


Vampires don't want to harm you

by Alenoriana



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Blood and Violence, Brother Feels, Frank Iero is an angry sweetroll, Gen, Human Frank Iero, Hurt Gerard Way, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, No Incest, Protective Gerard Way, Protective Mikey Way, Sibling Love, Vampire Gerard Way, Vampire Mikey Way, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2020-07-21
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:41:57
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 13,614
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21724690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alenoriana/pseuds/Alenoriana
Summary: Of course he knew the reputation of vampires, regardless of his and his brother’s efforts to stay away from that image as far as possible. No one would believe they were harmless. A night’s child surviving on living blood being good? Don’t be ridiculous.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way, Gerard Way & Mikey Way
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	1. The Broken

**Author's Note:**

> Hello my loves!  
> A little vampire thing!  
> Sorry for any mistakes, it's not my native. Also, I don't have anything against Bob, I just needed an annoying antagonist.  
> Leave Kudos, leave comments, leave hugs!
> 
> Love you, signing from Czech <3

Gerard’s POV

He clutched a tiny flask tightly to his chest and speed walked so fast his tights were burning. His eyes darted back and forth around the dusty street and when someone accidently looked back at him, he quickly turned his gaze to his old, scuffed boots. Shadow of his cape hid his face and large dark cloak embraced his body tightly. He attracted few curious glances from people around. Not that anyone would ask him about his behavior, citizens of the small village in the middle of forests and wetlands grew used to having a weirdo around. Two weirdos, actually. The Ways. Generally people didn’t develop a friendly attitude towards the siblings, but they let them stay and paid them a pitiful wage for the most unattractive jobs. They let them survive.

No one wanted to be a new night watcher, looking over cattle and fields while others were asleep. It was an ungrateful work, especially when every man and woman already had their job, better job, in daytime. Young blood willingly doing it just for food and a place to stay was a welcomed coincidence. And Gerard would lie if he said that in their… situation it wasn’t an ideal opportunity. Mikey wasn’t as lucky as him, he didn’t get to work at night, but he showed great resistance to fermentation gases and oxygen deficiency so he was helping in a nearby vine cellar and cider house. He tried to avoid collecting fruits in orchards as much as he could and did his part mostly in early mornings or at evenings, but he always got the job done, so no one bothered him about it. But they got one more job, the most important one. Every time someone hunted down a big animal, a wild boar for example, there was this butcher in the village who bought it from the hunter, skinned it, cut it and processed every useful part of it. And it was these times the Way brothers could run over themselves to be the first ones to volunteer to help. They were also the ones who were actually hired most of the time, because they were the only ones who didn’t want a proper payment. They didn’t want their cut of sausages or steaks they prepared, no. There was something else they wanted, and even if it was weird and unusual, the butcher couldn’t complain about cheap workers, could he?

Gerard nearly started running when he finally saw a small, old, rotting house at the very end of the village. The other nearest building was stables, inhabited by three horses and a few cows. The unpleasant smell was not a wanted companion so their house was abandoned for years, catching dust and mold, and sometimes used as a warehouse for unwanted things, just like them. They got it almost for free, as long as they kept it from falling down. Stone walls were covered in moss and ivy, thatch roof was holding together just enough to not let pouring rain inside. Two small windows were more or less broken with dirty remains of glass and barricaded with wooden planks nailed from the inside. The chimney was… well, it was there. Its peak disappeared a long time ago and the remains just waited to be destroyed by anything stronger than a breeze. No normal human would willingly live in a ditch hole like that. But desperate problems require desperate solutions, especially if your family is involved. This… wasn’t that bad, after all. It was just bad.

Gerard stopped in front of splintery door and knocked. He waited few seconds and then slipped inside. High sharp afternoon sun leaked inside after him, illuminating a tiny dark room, smelling of moisture and musty. At the other side of the room was one small candle, the only other source of light, standing on a wooden box. A big stock of wood and branches was gathered by one wall, usually used as firewood in chilly days. Alongside the other wall, there were bowls, buckets and cups, all of them slowly filling with water running through more leaky part of the roof. Two beds were spread around the candle. Well, you could call it a bed. It was a hump of old cloths filled with hay, on top of them some blankets they managed to get from their neighbors, by begging. Gerard didn’t like that memory, he didn’t like feeling like a poor beggar. But weren’t they exactly that? All blankets were piled at one side at the moment. The door wasn’t even fully closed yet when a distressed hissing came from beneath them. 

“Mikey…” he said and closed the door. Even without the candle he wouldn’t have a problem seeing the head of his younger brother peek out of the blanket mountain and bare his fangs. He walked over to him and held up the bottle. Mikey sat up and the thick cloths slipped from his thin, bony shoulders. He was paler than normal and shivering slightly, as if he had a rigor. Gerard reached out and tried to stroke his arm gently, but Mikey flinched away. The older man sighed, this wasn’t his fault. He was always oversensitive when he was… hungry. It happened.

“I get it, stop bitching,” he rolled his eyes and opened the flask. Sweet copper smell hit his nose immediately. He bit his lip and gripped his own tight hard, swallowing. He could almost feel the thick sticky dark liquid on his tongue, slipping into his throat… Mikey didn’t hesitate and snatched it from his hand. He gulped and gulped, drinking the contents of the flask till almost nothing remained. He licked his crimson lips with unnaturally long tongue and closed his eyes, moaning in satisfaction. Gerard stared as two stray drops rolled down Mikey’s chin, leaving red paths behind themselves. He swallowed again. The brown-haired man had to hear it, because he turned to him with an inquiring look. His eyes no longer held the animalistic hunger and heat. They were calm, warm brown with hints of green. 

“Gee?” he asked and there was not a hint of sharpness in his voice, as it was before. The older man turned his eyes away from the blood tracks and busied himself with stripping his cloak and putting it onto his poor, robbed and cold bed. 

“Just drink it. You are collecting apples today, better be there soon, you already missed the whole yesterday,” he said quietly. Well fed Mikey is a stronger Mikey able to easily withstand sunlight. It might be unpleasant, but it will not hurt him. With that in mind, Gerard slowly hid his slightly burnt hands in his lap. His little brother didn’t need to know about this. Mikey was in a bad place lately. No one returned with a catch for an unusually long time and it was too dangerous to try and steal a rabbit or a chicken, the locals watched and counted them carefully. They could go into the forest themselves, but with hunters earning for anything these days, it was nearly impossible to catch something. So when three men came with a dead deer this morning, Gerard was the first one there to land a hand. He was exhausted after a long night, hungry and the sun was rising, but he couldn’t let this opportunity slip between his fingers. 

“What about you?” the younger Way asked and offered him leftovers in the flask. Gerard watched it for a moment, tempted by that sweet cold metal taste on his mouth roof, but then he looked at Mikey, still pale with dark circles under his eyes, and remembered that he had to spend long hours on direct sunlight today. He shook his head slowly.

“It’s all yours. I’m full already,” he said and fell heavily onto his bad. He didn’t like lying to his brother, but a little friendly lie never hurt anyone, did it? Because Mikey wasn’t there to participate on the butchery, Gerard got reward only for one man. And Mikey was that man who needed it. He watched him as he happily drank the remains and finally finally wiped his mouth and chin. He licked the bottle neck, jesus fuck Mikes… Gerard closed his eyes and ignored grumbling and whining of his own insides which demanded some food. He will try to catch something at night.

“Are you okay?” Mikey’s voice asked. Gerard hummed a simple short yes.

“Are you not talking to me?” he asked once more. He was somewhat talkative with a full belly.

“I sleep,” the older Way said a little more irritated than he intended.

“You sleep? You are not sleeping.” What an intelligent deduction. Gerard whined and rolled over, his back now turned to his obviously genious brother.

“Yes. I sleep. I have been up whole night and day, Mikes, so just… let me sleep. Better prepare yourself for the orchards, cover your skin or whatever…” The last words were mumbled. No other question or answer came, but when he was just dozing off he felt a blanket landing on top of him. He shuffled himself under it and pulled it up to his nose. He listened for a while as steps walked here and there over the wooden floor, but he didn’t keep himself up long enough to hear Mikey leaving. He let himself be pulled into deep dreamless sleep, which will drive the hunger away for a few more hours if he was lucky.

*

A loud slam woke him from his slumber. He choked on a yelp and flung his limbs around in panic. They tangled in the blanket and it took him a moment to properly sit up and look around in alarm. He blinked for a few seconds at the other empty bed, extinguished candle, nailed windows and stopped his eyes when they landed on Mikey, panting and leaning heavily against the slammed door and staring at the opposite wall.

“Mikey?” he asked, confused and concerned. The brown haired man looked at him, so many emotions swirling in his eyes Gerard would need a decade to name them all. 

“Gerard…” Mikey took a deep breath. He frowned and stood up.

“What is it, what happened?” he demanded and strode straight up to him. The younger Way looked at him, at the floor, the wall, and back at him, gulping. 

“I-I think I did something. I think I fucked up,” he said in tiny voice. Gerard tilted his head, squinted his eyes and urged him with his gaze to keep talking. Mikey licked his lips nervously. 

“I think… maybe… maybe I managed to… out us?” he blurted.

“You did what?!” Gerard shrieked after a moment of silence, his voice jumped an octave higher.

“I didn’t mean to, I swear! It was an accident!” Mikey started and gripped his brother’s jacket tightly. Gerard caught his wrists and forced him to meet his gaze.

“Please, tell me you didn’t hurt someone. Mikey, tell me you didn’t do that,” he growled and shook him slightly. That couldn’t be true. He knew he was young and careless, but surly he wasn’t that much of a moron to actually let his urges out and harm somebody. No, he wouldn’t do that. Though he was a creature of dark, a vampire, a bloodsucker, a nightcrawler or any other flattering name their kind was called by, he was a good man. He wouldn’t hurt anybody, would he?

“Of course I didn’t!” he snorted and great, now he was offended. “What the fuck do you think I am? A murderer?” Gerard sighed a long sigh, half relived and half annoyed.

“All right all right. So what are you talking about?” he nudged him.

The taller vampire looked around the room and dropped his head.

“While we were collecting these damned apples… the sun was so bright and hot. It burned, it burned quite a lot. I wanted to disappear, but I knew I couldn’t. I was hungry again all of sudden and I was so, so uncomfortable. And then…” he took a steading breath, “then that damned bird landed right next to me. It was so calm, watching me and we were far away from others. It wasn’t afraid, even when I touched it.”

“Jesusfuckcrist Mikes…” Gerard groaned.

“Well I’m sorry! I just couldn’t help myself!” he cried out. The older man ran his hand over his face.

“Okay… I’m totally calm. So, who saw you?” he asked slowly and he tried to sound calm, he really did. But he was very, very angry right now. Such a stupid mistake…

“Jael from the farmhouse. She saw me drinking from it. She just screamed and ran for the others,” he admitted in defeat. Shit. “I ran right here.”

Fine, that gave them time. Not much, but some. Till she told it to some adult, then they had to spread it between themselves, put two and two together and get back to the village. It was nearly an hour by foot from the orchards and Mikey was a fast runner, faster than a normal human. That gave them more precious minutes. The older vampire rubbed his forehead, his other hand on his hip. They couldn’t count on a misunderstanding. They were fucked. If they didn’t want to fight with them – and they didn’t – the only possible solution was to vanish as quickly as possible without a trace. Before anyone comes to harm. Gerard’s lips formed a thin line. Of course he knew the reputation of vampires, regardless of his and his brother’s efforts to stay away from that image as far as possible. No one would believe they were harmless. A night’s child surviving on living blood being good? Don’t be ridiculous.

“Okay, Mikes. We are going to do this my way and you have to listen to me, all right?” he said and pled with his eyes for the taller man to not argue. His prayers were heard and Mikey nodded. He sighed in relief. 

“Right, so you take this backpack and take everything you can. Anything important, anything we can sell quickly, anything like that. I’m going to the stables and will saddle a horse and we will meet by that hollow willow by the river. Be quick, we don’t have much time left. If I’m not there when the lynch crowd comes you have to go without me, just run, do you understand? I will find you…” He squeezed his shoulder. Mikey opened his mouth but Gerard silenced him with pointed look and threatening finger. He nodded again.

“See you,” Gerard gave a thin smile and peeked outside. The sun was setting, it would be gone in a few minutes. Good. The street was still empty, so he slipped outside and run towards the stables. Suddenly he was grateful they lived so near. He lifted the bolt, looked over his shoulder to check someone wasn’t following him, and walked inside. If he wasn’t so time-pressed he would pause at this awful smell lingering in the hot stable air. Jesus, not even stables should stink this bad. He wrinkled his nose, set his jaw and made his way to the biggest and strongest stud. It was a tall muscular horse with dark brown fur and light mane. He wasn’t a riding horse, he was a dobbin, but that made him the best choice for carrying them both. Sure, he could just take two horses, but he didn’t have time to saddle them both, he had to improvise. The beast looked at him with its deep brown eyes, calm and without fear, not caring about prejudices or differences. Gerard patted his neck lightly.

“I know this is your home. But I need your help. I promise I will set you free soon,” then he grabbed a saddle from the railing and dropped it over his back. The horse snorted slightly and shuffled, unused to the new sensation, but otherwise remained still. Gerard wasn’t sure how to saddle a horse properly, so when the straps held tightly, the whole thing didn’t wobble and the animal looked comfortable, he was content. He grabbed the rains and lead him to the stable gate, pausing and listening intently. All quiet. He still got time. He peeked out, checking the empty road, and lead the horse out, the beast feeling his anxiety and not making a sound. Gerard walked him between the buildings, taking an inconspicuous path leading down towards the river. He walked off after a while and made his way through high grass. He just hoped his footprints wouldn’t be too noticeable in it.

He stopped when an idea crossed his mind. It would be much easier to run away if the villagers had to go after them by foot, wouldn’t it? He turned back to the village and bit his lips slightly in thought. Mikey was not here yet. And it would really help them if something… happened to the stables. They could get hours ahead. He tied the rains to some willow branches and run back up the small hill. He sneaked back between the houses and noted that there still was no one, to his delight. He crossed the main street and slipped back into the stables, looking around hastily. He quickly opened all the stalls, horses and cows, letting them out. They didn’t seem interested in leaving at all. He frowned and looked for something, anything to make them move, until his eyes fell on a long, oil black whip hanging on the wall. He took it, swinging it few times around uselessly, nearly whipping his own eye out. He didn’t know how to do this, damn it. Luckily, some of the animals were cleaver enough to understand his attempts and walked slowly towards the door. A sudden lout whip came without warning and Gerard grinned. He did it again and now all the cattle rushed forward. They threw the stable gate open all the way with a loud crash and hurried out.

An angry shout was heard through the deafening stamping. Gerard froze on the spot. His time has run out. He coiled the whip around his hand and headed out quickly. He can get away during the short chaos, slip away and meet Mikey by the river. 

He had one foot out the door when a fast and unexpected hit right to his face send him to the ground. He fell on his back, gasping and blinking rapidly. A soring pain shot up his nose, making his vision spotted and bringing tears to his eyes. He couldn’t move for a moment, his own head keeping him down like a weight, filling him with a sinking feeling. Someone grabbed his collar and pulled him up. He was slammed against hard wood and he groaned loudly, the impact resonating inside his skull, making him dizzy. He blinked hard and tried to see through his fogged vision.

“Hey! Hey I got one!” someone shouted into his face. A hot, stinky foul breath enveloped him and he gulped in disgust. He wrinkled his nose a little, feeling wet damp liquid dripping down over his mouth and chin. He heard more hurried steps, people running closer to them, and finally he managed to focus his eyes on the man in front of him. He was one of the farmers, foreman maybe. He was big, muscled and hard looking, sporting an awful cruel grimace and smiling wickedly. They didn’t know each other, but Gerard sure as hell didn’t like him. He struggled and a large hand clasped over his throat.

“Stay still, monster,” the man growled at him. It made the vampire angry, no one had a right to call them like that when they didn’t even know them.

“’m not… monster… asshole…” he wheezed, his windpipe getting squeezed tight. The man almost spit in his face at that, his other hand moving up and forcibly opening the dark haired man’s mouth. Gerard trashed, kicked and pushed at him, but he was too weak. He wasn’t a fucking werewolf, he was not much stronger than an average human, only faster maybe. He felt the dirty digit running over his teeth and he tried to bit it, unsuccessfully.

“You have ridiculously small teeth, but you’ve got fangs. You are an abomination, you should burn! Where is your little bloodthirsty brother, huh? How many of you is here?!” he sputtered with every word. Gerard hissed angrily.

“Go... to… hell,” he choked out. More people gathered around them and made a circle. The man lifted Gerard up suddenly. The vampire whimpered, his feet dangling and kicking in the air. He felt his neck being crushed and he was certain it will snap when he was thrown to the ground right in the middle of the crowd. He wheezed, coughed and spluttered dark blood, touching his throat gingerly and trying to find his breath. He lifted his head, looking through tears at people around. They had axes, pitchforks, torches… They watched him with hate, disgust, fear. He looked from one to another, a wild rage starting to boil under his skin. The savages! The ignorant bastards! Blinded fools!

A scream tore through the air and Gerard flinched. He turned his head towards the sound, a cold feeling running over him. Mikey. No no no, he shouldn’t be here, he was supposed to go without him, he told him to run away!

“They found that other one!” someone yelled from the crowd and a choral: Huray! Followed.

“What to do with them?” another voice asked.

“Burn them!”

“Not time for that, someone bring some stakes!”

Gerard’s vision reddened. They dared to touch his brother. They dared to hurt him? His blood caught on fire and he opened his mouth inhumanly wide, screeching. The sound of hundreds of bats combined drowned out everything else. Men and women around him screamed, gripping their ears and shielding their heads, swinging weapons around blindly to get rid of that horrific noise. Some of them even dropped to the ground in panic. It was just for a few seconds, but it was enough for the vampire to stand up and grab the first thing he could find. The vibrating air was cut by a loud whip and the nearest people shrieked and jumped back. Gerard bared his fangs, his eyes dark and large, blood still running over his lower face. He saw the dread in their eyes. First one to make a move was a guy with a torch. He flung it at him, but yelped and dropped it when he got slashed across his forearm. Gerard swung the whip a few more times to keep them away from him, but he was quickly outnumbered. He dodged a pitchfork and hit the nearest man with his fist. He felt a crack under his fingers, but he didn’t have time to bask in his adrenaline rush, jumping back fast to get away from more flames. He crouched down and lunged into some guy, his shoulder hitting his stomach full force and sending them both to the ground. He raised his fist again as he sat atop of him, but his arm got grabbed and he was pushed back away from him. Someone kicked him in the guts, making him spit more blood. He flung his arm, letting his claws lengthen and he heard cloth tearing and a scared cry out. He didn’t want to kill anybody, but he had to defend himself, and some scratch wasn’t anything serious anyway. He bounced from place to place, getting quicker and quicker the more his vision was being overflown with crimson. He merely dodged an axe nearly beheading him, kicked somebody to the ground and leapt into another group, punching and scowling. When the place cleared a little, moaning and crying and grunting sounding all over, he panted and heaved, standing in a dangerous crouch and keeping his head low. He heard steps and swirled around, growling at another woman who got close to him. The girl shrieked when he fixed her with his gaze, dropping her sickle and backing away. Finally someone was clever enough not to fuck with him. Gerard stared at her, into her big brown scared eyes. They were full of terror and panic. She tripped and fell down with a quiet whimper. She raised her hands in front of herself in defense. She looked ready to cry, anticipating the beast will pounce on her any moment. But he did nothing like that. On contrary, he even backed away from her a little, still holding her gaze with his. 

Despite all the hatred and rage overflowing his mind, he still managed to keep his human side on the light, the side reminding him that he wasn’t a murderer. He was not, a murderer. His expression softened a little. The women narrowed her eyes at him, clearly confused. Gerard looked at her back, suddenly a lot calmer, then he heard a battle roar and the last standing men rushed at him. He dodged the first few attacks, unnaturally fast, and tripled one’s feet. The next guy swung a lumberjack axe in his direction, the last one creeping from behind. He heard some tearing and metal ping of something breaking, but he didn’t care. Few hard punches and kicks send the last attackers to the ground. He stood there, breathing hard, his lungs burned him, in the middle of writhing and whimpering bodies. He blinked at them for a second. He sniffed and noted he didn’t smell blood. Not a significant amount at least, maybe some broken nose and teeth. He turned to where he saw the brown-eyed woman before, but she was gone. He scanned the darkened street around looking for her, but he was interrupted by yelling. He jerked his head in the direction of shouting voices. Mikey.

He run towards the commotion. He felt a faint throb in his stomach but he didn’t have time to care about that right now. His legs carried him between the houses on the opposite side of the main route. He eyed their little house, cold and dark, door tore of the hinges. There were three men lying and groaning around, one of them crawling and holding his knee. Gerard set his jaw and run right pass them. A dark silhouette of a short, chunky man appeared between wooden walls, illuminated by a torch, standing in front of one of the houses. He didn’t even get a chance to face the incoming vampire, Gerard just run into him at full speed, throwing him bodily against the wall. He slumped into the dirt unconscious. The dark haired man fumed and kicked the doors open so hard a wooden chips fell off. He was greeted with a sight of two men, one of them lean and really tall, holding another torch and a meat cleaver. The second one was holding a long slim rapier. Gerard knew who was this. The so called protector and a hand of the law, a braggart who may had actually fought in some army. People here respected him just because he was really the only one who knew how to hold a damn weapon. In the corner of the room Mikey cowered behind an overturned table, shielding his head with his arms. If Gerard found a little bit of calm before, he threw it right out the window now. He hissed wildly and the tall man slashed at him. He missed, but it was close enough to maybe cut a string of his raven black hair. The speed of the attack surprised him and he was too stunned to notice another lunge in time. He shrieked when the torch burned his arm. The charred cloth immediately stuck to his burnt skin and he stumbled back, holding a hand over the wound. He bared his teeth and hissed again. The cleaver swinging forced him back and back, almost out of the door. The tall man grinned at him with his awful, black-yellowish teeth and made a stabbing motion against him with the torch. Gerard flinched back, but before the guy pulled it back, the vampire let out a high-pitched short screech. It formed a tiny sound wave, not anywhere strong enough to actually set anything off balance. But it was enough to move the flame, the fire and cinders flying forwards the man’s face. He yelled and dropped the flambeau. Blinded he waved his cleaver and hacked it into the wooden doorframe. The vampire looked at the metal blade stuck few inches away from him and then punched the man right in the guts. He hunched over and stumbled forward to not fall down. Gerard moved aside to clear him the way and hit him with his knee to the chin from below, sending him out on the street. He slammed the door behind him, closing and securing the inner bolt. 

He took a deep breath, then another, palms against the wood. He had to calm dawn a little, this berserkering had it’s limits. His muscles burned, his throat was dry and hurt, but he couldn’t give in, not yet. He turned his dark eyes to the last human in the room. What was the name he always threw into peoples faces? Robin? Roland? Robert. That was it, Robert Bryar. He carried it like he was some kind of legend, lived for the attention and amazement of simple villagers. And this ignorant prick, the one who insulted the Ways and reminded them of their poor status everytime they were within earshot. This man couldn’t decide now at which vampire he will be pointing his shiny rapier.

„Stop, back off!“ he barked and rised his weapon at him when Gerard took a step forward.

„Gee…“ Mikey said from his little corner. The dark haired man looked over at him and their eyes met for a moment. Mikey looked shaken, frightened maybe, but relieved. A thin red line run across his forehead, dripping small droplets of blood into his eyebrow. His knuckles were beaten up and bruised, but otherwise he looked uninjured. Even so. This bastards dared to touch his brother. They will pay for that. He groweled lowly and stalked forward, baring his fangs. His glare was working, because Bryar swallowed visibly and pointed his sword at Mikey again, the lass hiding quickly behind his table. 

„Not another step or he will get it!“ he warned with surpressed panic. Ohhh, he shouldn’t have said that. Gerard sweared he could hear his blood running in his vains, pumped quickly by his terrified little human heart. So sweet and hot. He licked his lips and still slowly moved forward. Bryar looked around for something, anything, then pointed back at him.

„I said stop!“ he shrieked and swung his sword. First hit Gerard dodged with ease, the second one was coming right at his throat. He raised his hand in a blink of an eye and caught the thin blade in his palm. The human gasped. The vampire felt the metal cutting into his flesh, weeping dark black blood, but that was unimportant.

„Gerard!“ Mikey shouted, but it sounded distant, muffled. Eadges of his vision darkened and his world concentrated on the man before him. He was frozen with fear. So pretily… helpless. He janked the rapier from his stiff fingers and held it in both arms. With one swift motion he broke the blade in half. Bryar stepped back, stopped by the wall. He didn’t have anywhere to run.

„W-Way…“ he stuttered and stared at him without blinking. Gerard growled and threw the broken weapon away.

„C-c’mon, I didn’t mean it! We were friends, right? You wouldn’t hurt an unarmed, or-!“ his venomous words were cut off by strong fingers gripping his jaw. Gerard tightened his hold and smiled at the whimpering sound he caused. He pulled him closer, right in his face. They stared into each others eyes, one pair pale blue, one pair dark reddish, hungry and inhuman. 

„You will never… touch my family… again,“ he said with quiet uneasy voice and tilted his head. His thumb traveled lower, under the jaw and across an artery. He felt it bumping under his fingertip, hidden only by a thin skin. It would be so easy to tear it apart. The blood would come out all on its own. A dull presure in his fangs urged him to speed it up. One little bite was all, just one. He wouldn’t even feel it, he would just taste him a little. It was so long since he had thick, warm, flowing…

„GERARD!“ Mikey boomed. 

It was so un-Mikey it pulled him out off his lust-filled trans imediatelly. He realized he was pinning Bryar bodily against the wall, hunching over his neck, mouth open wide and fangs nearly punctuating the skin. The writhing man janked his hair desperately with one hand, other one pulling and hitting his shoulder, trying to get him off. He gasped for air and repeated: „No please, help! Get it off me!“

Oh god. Gerard closed his mouth and pulled back. He was just about… about… His stomach turned upside down and he had to hold back a bile rising in his throat. He put a hand across his lips and took few wobly steps away, surpresing need to vomit. They were right. He was a monster. Bryar felt over his neck with panic and sighed with heavy relief when he didn’t find any holes. 

„Oh, thank god. I really thought-“ Fast punch sand him to the ground like a bag of grain. He dropped with a thud and stayed on the floor. Mikey flexed his fingers and looked down at him with disgust.

„Asshole. Couldn’t stand to listen to him any longer,“ he mumbled. Gerard leaned agains a wall and breathed heavily to fight away the shock slowly creeping in. He would have killed him, he would have really killed him. If Mikey wouldn’t have stopped him, Bryar would lay in a puddle of blood gushing out of his neck and Gerard would pour it into his mouth like some wild animal. He run his shaky hands through his hair, staining them with his own blood. It all hit him like a canonball. Fear. Pain. Exhaustion. His every muscle started trembling and he shook like a leaf. His palm burned, his face was covered with gore and something very unpleasantly thobbed in his right side. Before he could look at it, a crackling caught his attention. He turned and widened his eyes. The other side of the room was slowly swallowed by a flame climbing up the wall higher and higher. It was the torch, the tall guy’s torch. A small nightstand and table-cloth was catching fire now too. And the rug. This was bad. This was so so bad. He put his hand’s over his face. He hated fire. He despised it. When he was little he saw his grandmother Elena being burnt alive. Mikey was too young too remember it, but he did. He remembered it all.

„Mikey,“ he whispered. The younger Way was moving before Gerard even noticed the fire. He smashed the shutters on the window open into the night. A dark smoke was forming a cloud under the ceiling now, but Gerard just couldn’t move. He was frozen solid, slumped by the wall, just staring in horror as more and more wood was swallowed by the flames. He saw them devour a female silhouette and heard the screaming, that horrible screaming that hunted him in nightmares for years. He covered his ears to shut it out, closing his eyes tightly. He was somewhere else, somewhere else, somewhere safe, home with Mikey, no one attacked them there and they were happy. 

„Gerard?! Gerard!“ the youngers vampire yelled at him and shook him.

The smoke was stinging his nose and it was hot all around, but he just shook his head. He just couldn’t. 

The slap surprised him. He flinched and blinked at Mikey. Did… his own brother really hit him just now? Whatever, it forced him to react again to his surroundings. He coughted and yelped when he saw the incoming inferno getting closer with every second.

„C’mon Gerard, move!“ Mikey shouted and hauled him forcibly on his feet. He took him around his shoulders and dragged him towards the open window. It should have been an easy climbing out, but he nearly fell then his shaky legs hit the grass outside. God, he was so tired. He noticed Bryar laying safe distance away from the fire from the corner of his eye. Mikey must had carried him out also to save him. Gerard smiled faintly at the humaness of his little brother. That said little brother grabbed him again, this time by a hand, and pulled him across the small meadow toward’s the river. They run as fast as they could, but with every step Gerard’s legs became clumsier and slower. He risked a look over his shoulder. All the people still standing were trying to dose the flames. He maybe felt a little guilty, but then, it wasn’t them who started the fire. Even if, it was in self defense.

A slippery rock found its way under his boot and he tripped. He took Mikey with him because the taller man still gripped his hand tightly. Gerard coughed and groaned. He slowly rose to his knees.

„Gee, stand up, c’mon,“ Mikey urged him back on his feet. Gerard shook his head and gripped his stomach. He felt hot wetness. He cursed quitely. Mikey noticed and knelt next to him. He slowly took his hands away to look at what was hiding under the dark denim of his jacket.

„Oh shit…“ he cursed too. Gerard looked at himself properly for the first time. A quite big bloodstain was adoring his clothes. Nobody probably noticed it till now because it was dark on dark. And it was at the front and at the back. Mikey gulped and looked behind him. Gerard didn’t have to look at him to see his expresion. He was quite sure of what happened.

„Why didn’t you tell me you were hurt?“ Mikey whispered and pulled Gerard closer, letting him lean on him. Gerard sighed and let his head fell on Mikey’s shoulder.

„I didn’t notice…“ he admitted. With all the adrenalin and chaos he didn’t even notice there was a hole in his side. Mikey petted his head lightly.

„This will hurt a little, sorry,“ he said and gripped something sticking out of his back. Gerard whined and felt the object moving inside him with every little pull. All it took was one swift jank to get it out. The older vampire moaned in pain and leaned a little more on his sibling. Mikey held up a thin metal spike, glistening in moonlight.

„They really got me with a pitchfork?“ Gerard mumbled and frowned. He hoped for a dagger at least, now he was embarassed. Mikey threw it away somewhere and pulled away a little to look him in the eyes.

„It went through, but it’s a narrow wound. You have eaten today, it will heal in no time,“ he smiled and cradled his face a little. Gerard thinned his lips and shook his head. Mikey raised an eyebrow.

„I haven’t eaten for three weeks,“ Gerard said quitely and closed his eyes. He didn’t like admitting he lied to his brother, but it was important that Mikey knew how deep they were in shit right now.

„But you said…“

„I lied. I didn’t want to worry you. I didn’t get more than that one flask today and you needed it more than I did,“ he smiled and hoped it looked apologetic. The younger Way seemed angry at first, then desperate, then he bowed his head and hugged him tightly.

„Ah, Gee, you moron,“ he whispered and touched the wound again lightly. I didn’t bleed much, fortunately. It will not heal until Gerard fed properly to gain some energy, but they were still vampires. He will not just bleed out. Probably. But he still could die from many other ways. Mikey knelt up and tore a piece of his shirt off. He made a long bondage from it and wrapped it around dark haired man’s stomach, tightening it. It was probably uncomfortable, but it secured the injury enough to not open at least.

„We can do this. It-it will be okay Gee,“ he declared in strong voice and pulled Gerard’s arm over his shoulders. He rose them up with a little effort and they slowly made their way to the river shore, where their stolen horse waited for them patiently. I took some time to get Gerard up, but after few minutes of whimpering and cursing, Mikey was able to pull himself up behind his brother. He let him lean on him lightly, sneaked his arms around to grip the rails. He nudged the horse with his heels and they rode along the water away from the village, and into the nearest forest. Gerard’s head tilted back after some time, falling on Mikey’s shoulder. The younger one kissed his hair gently.

„Don’t worry, Gee. I will take care of you. I promise.“


	2. The Beaten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. Am. So. Sorry. I know, It took me months to translate the second chapter, I am sorry. I should have worked harder, but, y'all know... some shit happened.  
> So well, at least enjoy it now! And I swear the third final part will be here sooner (I forbid myself to move to other ideas before I finish this!)  
> Again, sorry for mistakes, not my native.  
> Read, leave kudos, comments (those really motivate me!) and have a good day!

Frank’s POV

Frank Iero had a ritual, of sorts. You know, the kind of ritual you have for certain situations. For certain people. For certain people’s teeth. Everyone knew he was a hot head in the town. They knew he was stubborn, morally unwavering and a little bit more acting before thinking. That didn’t stop them from time to time to fuck with him, though. Their biggest mistake. 

Frank Iero may not be of a big form, but he was of a big heart. Whenever someone decided to behave like a jerk and he was around… well, he had made a few enemies in his life. The fights never went further than punching and kicking, maybe chocking a little bit. No one was ever in actual danger, no secret knives, no ambushes after the sunset. Who would they fight with if they killed each other? Exactly. And it was always an event for their present audience. Fortunately, the majority of his neighbors still liked him, for his otherwise cheerful demeanor and wide playful grin usually plastered on his face, even if he threw a punch here and there. 

So whenever their fight was over, the participants were scolded and warned to not pick it up again (as if they would listen), Frank would quickly retreat to his home, which he shared with his old childhood friend Ray in a small former vine warehouse with large empty cellar and sturdy wood walls and roof to keep out the cold, he would grab his duffle, show his things inside and head into the woods. He liked the woods. It was quiet, empty, just perfect for shouting his lungs out, kicking dead stumps and all in all have a nice stroll around to calm his nerves. Sometimes it took few hours, sometimes he found a nice patch of grass and if the weather was nice, he spent the night huddled under his blanket, usually waking up cold and damp but well rested the following morning.  
Today was just the day for a trip like that. He was pissed off, offended and angry. He planned on going far away today, not carrying where exactly, because his town was always to the west. He wasn’t afraid of wild animals, there have not been any for years. He would have to go up to the mountains to have a chance of meeting a wolf pack or something like that. And the weather was nice too, sunny, still warm as autumn hasn’t come yet, and the wind didn’t get to him because he was hidden in between tall trees. He would so much like to enjoy the nature, but whenever he tried to smile even a little to lighten his own mood, his slit lip stung like hell and just made him grimace. He wanted to punch something, to beat the shit out of some rotting tree, throw some stones and kick the moss. 

As he walked, he noticed he followed an old forest path. He sighed heavily. He knew where he was. It wasn’t long and he came to a short fence in the middle of nowhere. It was made of thin iron bars, old, rusty, bend or broken in many places. Before him was a cracked gate, the hinges unmoved for what looked like millenniums but actually have been maybe decades or a century at most. Behind it, hidden away from the world, was a graveyard.

It wasn’t huge, but it was large enough to have a small barrow mound in the middle, accompanied by tons of gravestones all around in circles. They were neglected, unkept and abandoned, the whole place was. Frank knew people were aware of this forgotten cemetery, but no one actually visited it today. The people buried here were lost to time, their families gone, moved to another town or already deceased. There was a new graveyard by the local church and everyone was buried there now. No need for this pagan shrine anymore. The barrow itself had three entrances, heavy metal doors with a massive padlock on a chain, the material looking actual ginger with rust. 

He slipped through the gate and slowly made his way to the center. His footsteps were loud among silent gravestones, stepping on high grass and making a little path behind him. He have been here many times before, this place had a strange ability to almost instantly calm him. He was planning on storming his energy out, but now he was here, he felt his anger bubble away like a steam leaving hot cauldron. His fingers graced one of the stones, cold but overgrown with moss. He knelt down and pulled the plant away so he could read the name of the person who laid here. It sounded foreign, long and hard to say. Whoever it was, his story was probably long forgotten with no one to remember him, a least not here. Maybe when the grave stone disappears one day too, their name will be lost to history. He glanced over the rows and rows of other stones. Probably everyone here will be. 

He played with the thought of cleaning the graves for a few seconds, but then dismissed it. What is supposed to give in to time will give in eventually, who was he to try and change that. He stood up straight again and made his way to the center of the cemetery. This was a good place as any other, he may as well make a camp here. At least he will not feel so alone. 

He dropped his duffle by one of the barrow entrances and made a quick work of gathering some fire wood around. As he walked around, picking up fallen branches and sticks, his eyes caught on something. A high bracken was growing here and there between the stones, nothing unusual. But this one fern… for some reason was all broken and trampled. It was almost flattened. He straightened and looked around. Now he noticed that… there were some footprints running around. Hoofprints actually. He walked closer inspecting them, his firewood still clutched in his arms. This was strange. He knew of no one who would visit this place except him. And definitely no one who owned a horse. Maybe some messenger or an envoy, but they would ride among the main roads, he was sure. Could it be hunters, even when there was no proper pray around for years? No… 

He frowned as he thought about the kind of people who were wealthy enough to have an actual horse and would stick to the wilderness. In every scenario he could come up with was involved some kind of crime. And he didn’t like that. He returned to his duffle, pilling the wood on the ground. He was just stretching his back when his eyes widened. The barrow door, just few feet away from him, had it’s massive lock absent. The chain was loosely pulled over the handle, but the lock was gone. He didn’t remember this ever happening. He stood still, considering his opinions. He could just leave and move on, that sounded like a good plan. Probably it just… fell off anyways, rusted away? Surly there wasn’t anyone inside… was there? He worried his lip and hissed as he bit right into the slit and irritated it again. Someone desecrating the tomb. Maybe stealing the treasures of the dead. 

He put his hands on his hips and looked around again. If there had been anyone, there were gone by now, there was no one guarding the door, no horses or baggage. It would… be okay to check if there was everything all right down there, right? Maybe look around if there wasn’t something the thieves forgot to take… Maybe they dropped something, and then it was technically already stolen so it wouldn’t hurt anyone if he found something…

He grabbed a thick stick, took his handkerchief and tied it around one end, then he made a small fire going, just enough to fire up his made up torch. He didn’t know how deep the barrow was, and if he didn’t need it in the end, well, better be prepared. He made his way slowly to the door, the metal still shining a little and reflecting the fire. He very carefully untied the chain and laid it down into the grass in the most silent way he could. He didn’t have to bother at all, he realized as he pried the doors open and it creaked in a really unholy and deafening way. He winced and peered inside warily. A descending staircase. It was narrow, just high enough for him, and the ceiling was covered in spider webs. He grimaced and wrinkled his nose as old, cold, heavy air hit him.  
He ducked and carefully stepped inside. He was hunched low as he went one step at a time to not fall over and to not get any spider in his hair. The stairs weren’t too long and it took him just few seconds to see the base. There was a room down there, be he couldn’t see inside yet. He shimmered his hand down his leg until he touched a handle of a knife he carried in his boot. He pulled it out and let it rest against his forearm, just in case.

“If there is anyone down there, please don’t kill me,” he called out, not receiving any answer, as expected. He chuckled at his own silliness. What did he expect, the grave robbers to just enounce they were here and will, probably, murder him?

He came down the last few steps and straightened. With the torch raised to illuminate the place, he looked around. He shrieked and jumped good three feet high when he noticed two figures in the corner of the room, hiding between sarcophagus’. They were men, young by looks, and pale as death. They were hunched on the floor, one of them facing him and the other one hiding behind the first. They wore panicked expressions matching with his own.

“Who the fuck… are you?” he choked out.

*

Mikey’s POV

One and a half day earlier.

Mikey trembled and held the reins in a white knuckled grip. It started raining just few hours after their escape, hard and long. It soaked the vampires to the bone. They didn’t have much to protect themselves with, only Gerard’s cloak which was made primary to hide him from the sun, not to be waterproof. It was rather large and more or less big enough to embrace both brothers at once, but it couldn’t withstand the pouring waterfalls from the sky, and now it was plastered to Mikey’s skin and freezing cold. They didn’t have any spare clothes, or any supplies in general, their bag lying forgotten where the younger vampire dropped it while he run for his life from their home. No, not home. Not anymore. They couldn’t even stop and try and make a fire, to dangerous and visible to any potential pursuers. And most of all, they didn’t have time to spare, they had to find a place to hide before dawn. Talking of that… wasn’t that daylight slowly rising behind their backs?

“Gerard…” he shook his brother gently. The older vampire was dozing on his shoulder, whimpering quietly whenever the horse moved too quickly. Mikey checked his wounds every hour or so to see if he was still bleeding through the makeshift bandage. He sighed a heavy breath every time when the dark crimson stain grew just that tiny bit more. It wasn’t enough for Gerard to bleed out, but it was still too much for the wound to heal. 

“Gerard,” he tried again. The dark haired man opened his eyes a little and squinted up at him.

“Mikey… what is it?” he rasped. His lips were dry and parted slightly, face paler than usual with dark circles under his eyes. Mikey’s heart squeezed painfully. 

“The sun is rising,” he said, turning his head to look at the slowly lightening sky visible between trees above them. They had half an hour at best before first sunrays hit them as there weren’t any clouds today. They wouldn’t hurt the younger vampire too much, but they could seriously harm Gee, while he is so starved and weak. He had to find them a place to hide and wait out the day, before they could continue. 

“We have to… we have to move on,” the dark haired man grunted and straightened a little. Mikey shook his head. 

“No way. You have to rest. We just got to find a place to-“

“No, no! We have to continue… We have a head start, we have to get as far as possible,” Gerard argued faintly and grabbed for the reins. 

“No, Gerard, no. Let it, you can’t travel at day, it will hurt you,” Mikey insisted. The older vampire shook his head sharply, and tried to pry the reins away from his brother’s grasp.

“Gee, stop it!” Mikey growled and ripped them away from him. Fast. The horse misunderstood.

It neighed, stood up on its hind legs and threw its mane wildly. Mikey tried, he really did, to lean forward and fight against the gravitation pulling them both backwards, but couldn’t hold their weight combined. The reins slipped away from him and he tightened his arms around his brother as they both fell to the ground. He gasped when Gerard landed on him with a muffled cry out. 

“Damned… horse,” he wheezed and pushed the other vampire to the side so he could stand. Gerard whined and curled in on himself, bet before Mikey could check on him the horse neighed again and took off into the woods. He pushed himself up quickly and ran after him. The animal zigzagged through the lines of trees and Mikey had a hard time keeping up to it. He followed it, jumping over a weird small metal fence, and finally caught up to it. He grabbed the reins while the horse was confusedly stomping between a bunch of flat stones, throwing its head.

“Calm the fuck down!” Mikey growled impatiently. That was a big mistake. The horse must had sensed a predator in him, because it stood up and sent the vampire flying into the nearest ferns. Mikey hissed loud when he hit his elbow hard on some damned stone, but the horse was already gone, galloping merrily into distance. It disappeared into the forest, leaving only a fading sound of its hooves. Mikey gasped for breath and slammed his fist into moss covered stone.

“To hell with all of this!” he yelled and sat up. 

They were doomed. They lost any means of transport, they were stuck in the middle of nowhere, hurt and exhausted, and most of all the bloody sun was rising and they had to hide somewhere. He ran a hand through his hair and looked around, clenching his jaw. It looked like an abandoned cemetery here. Broken and overgrown grave stones sitting in tall grass in circles around a small hill. His mouth opened slightly when he noticed three heavy doors at its foot. It had to be a barrow or something! He quickly stood up and wiped his hands on his trousers, making his way to the nearest door and trying the handle. The thick chain on it rattled loudly, but it only took one forceful pull on the lock for it to fall open. With creepy screech he opened the door and peeked inside. There was a descending staircase, dark, cold and dead silent. What a prefect coincidence. He left it ajar and jogged back to the place where he left Gerard.  
The older vampire managed to prop himself up and sit with his back against a tree in the meantime. He looked slightly panicked, clutching his side and breathing heavily. He snapped his head up the moment he heard Mikey coming.

“Mikes! I-I thought you left… I’m so sorry,” he coughed out. Mikey knelt beside him nudged his shoulder.

“Not gonna get rid of me that easily,” he watched a faint smile ghost across Gerards lips. 

“Did… did you catch him, the horse?” he asked then. Mikey threw up his empty hands and shook his head. The dark haired man sighed and closed his eyes for a moment.

“Well, we are fucked then, right?” he said.

“No. I found a hiding place. You are gonna love it, it’s just a minute away,” Mikey said and pulled Gerard’s free hand over his shoulders, slowly helping him stand up. He was wobbly so Mikey hold him tight, carefully leading him towards the cemetery. He still had his suspicions about the place, but they didn’t have many options left, so whether or not the barrow hideaway was safe or not, it was their best chance. 

“What is this place?” Gerard asked when Mikey helped him through a gap in the broken fence.

“No idea. But it looks abandoned so we should be safe here for the time being. Look,” he said with a shrug and nudged the door open with his foot. He hoped he was right, he really did. They descended slowly into darkness, the air was old and dusty, smelling stale, but it was dry and quiet here, and most of all dark which was good. The stairs led to a small room with low ceiling, niches in the walls and stone sarcophagus standing proudly in the middle. Mikey internally apologized to anyone who was resting here and led Gerard into the furthest corner. He slowly laid him down and then returned to close the doors tight behind them, blocking the sun out and cladding the tomb in pitch black again. Not that they complied. He slowly descended back down and sighed heavily. Finally safe. The older vampire smiled at him weakly and nodded for him to sit beside him. He was very pale, and Mikey nervously licked his lips as he lowered his eyes to his injured side. He reached out and loosened the bloodied cloth. Gerard hissed loudly.  
“Sush,” Mikey said and opened his jacket. He helped him pull it down over his shoulders and then helped him lay down flat on his back, so there wouldn’t be pressure on the wound. He folded the jacket under his head and then pulled up his stained dirty shirt.  
“What are you doing Mikes?” Gerard asked and thinned his lips in irritation. His porcelain skin was smeared with black dry blood. He didn’t bleed anymore, luckily, but the wound looked like it could open again with any sudden movement. Mikey touched the skin around it and pressed lightly. Gerard sucked in a sharp breath and caught his wrist. 

“I’m checking that they didn’t hit any organ…” Mikey murmured and let go. He took the edge of his sleeve and rubbed off the worst of the grime.

“Well I could’ve told you that, couldn’t I?” Gerard hissed again and swatted his hand away.

“I was just trying to help,” Mikey said quietly.

“You are not helping anyone like that,” the older vampire growled and stared straight ahead into nothing. He eyes were glazed over and he furrowed slightly. Mikey lowered his eyes in shame. He was right, he was not helping anyone. Gerard was injured badly, he was in pain, and Mikey only did it worse. He should be making him feel better, more so when all of this was his fault in the first place. If only he wasn’t so stupid, if only he could control himself… Gerard was stared then and he managed to keep it together and let Mikey feed instead. Why he wasn’t that strong? He took the makeshift bandage, folded it and carefully wrapped it back around the wound. He didn’t look up and an uncomfortable silence stretched between two brothers.

“Sorry,” Gerard whispered after long minutes of tense muteness. Mikey shook his head.

“No, I am sorry. It’s all my fault. All of this…” the younger vampire said quietly. Gerard looked at him. He waited till he finished bandaging him up and then caught his hand in his. Mikey gripped it tightly and rubbed his knuckles with his thumb. He was really cold, even for a child of night, and his palm was still cut open from Bryer’s blade. He will have a scar if he doesn’t feed soon. Multiple scars. 

“It’s my fault we had to run. If I,” he gulped and looked down again, “If I didn’t out us, we would still have a home. And you wouldn’t…” his words faded into nothing. Gerard tightened his fingers around his hand.

“We all do mistakes. It’s not your fault. And it wasn’t our home,” he said. The younger Way looked up at him and met a tired but sincere little smile. 

“We are each other’s home, aren’t we?” Gerard smiled a little wider. Mikey’s lips twitched upwards.

“Mum used to say that,” he nodded. He hadn’t thought of her in a long time. Among hiding, feeding and making some coin, there was a little time to recall the past. It has been so long, years… Too long for letting the sentiment in.

“You are all I need. We will always take care of each other. We shouldn’t argue,” the older Way added and closed his eyes for a moment. A small tear escaped the corner of his eye. Mikey sighed. Gerard wasn’t a person who could get emotional easily, especially when he had to take care of his little brother, but Mikey wasn’t blind, he usually could tell when the older vampire was shaken, scared or empty handed without a clue what to do, even when he tried to hide it. But he never pointed it out, there was no use for frustration Gerard even more. But now, now it looked like the walls were falling, crumbling to the ground with the exhaustion, fear, worry and desperation. It all fell like lighting and there was nothing left to do, than wait for the thunder. Mikey gripped Gerard’s palm in both hands.

“I will take care of you. I promise. We will get through this,” he said and hoped he sounded at least a little sure. Gerard looked at him with glassy eyes.

“We have withstood so much, and I never broke us. I will be… I will be hard, but we will manage and get through this, together. And I will be a better brother, I will not fuck it up ever again, I will… I will work more and get more food, and- and… And everything will be okay,” Mikey continued. He didn’t know where his certainty came from, where he took the strength to say those words, as he himself was scared to the bones. Maybe it was that his sibling’s life depended now on him, and only him. Because he didn’t fear for himself, not at all. 

“How are you so sure, Mikes?” Gerard rasped. Mikey pulled a stained strand of hair behind his ear.

“I just know it. Don’t worry about it, just rest now, alright? I will take care of you. I should go out and get you something to eat first, ‘kay?” he smiled and moved to get up, but Gerard sharply caught his wrist in a firm grip. Through his normally hazel eyes, not colored with wild crimson, run a flash of panic.

“Please don’t go,” he said quickly and lowered his eyes sheepishly. Mikey blinked at him and stilled.

“It’s daylight outside. You shouldn’t go into the sun now, you have to keep your strength. And… there could be someone,” he added slowly after a moment. He had a point, it was morning now, but it somehow didn’t sound like the true reason why he didn’t want to let Mikey go. The younger vampire sat back down beside him and absentmindedly smoothed his stained shirt.

“Do you want me to stay here with you?” he asked softly. It actually sounded so appealing, just to curl up and sleep. They had a really long day. And night. Gerard nodded slightly, almost like he was embarrassed that he didn’t want to be alone now. Mikey couldn’t blame him.

“Okay. I will stay. But when the sun goes down, I will go hunt something down for you,” he smiled again and made himself more comfortable against the wall. Gerard leaned his head on his shoulder and Mikey sighed and let his eyelids fall for a while. The adrenalin was quickly seeping out of his body now, and the exhaustion was taking over. A few hours of sleep will do him good. He relaxed and quickly a light slumber almost took him, when he felt a shudder. He opened one eye slightly, but nothing moved. He looked down on Gerard. The older man laid still, but his hands were tucked under his arms and lips quivering.

“Are you cold?” Mikey asked, but before Gerard could answer, he was already straightening and pulling down his own coat. Carefully he took Gerard under his arms and pulled him closer, slithering his way behind him and folding him gently into his embrace. He took the coat and pulled it over them both. The cloak would be better, but the thick damp cloth had to dry properly first. He laid Gerard’s head on his chest and wound his arms around him, slowly petting his skin.

“Better?” he asked and leaned his head back on the stone wall. The only answer he got was a slight nod and a quiet grunt. He sighed once more, but Gerard’s slow breathing and their combined body heat quickly lulled him back to sleep, this time deep and dreamless. 

*

The next evening, just as the sun fell behind the trees, Mikey went out. Just as he promised. He tucked Gerard into the now dry cloak to keep him warm while he was gone, and disappeared out into the dark. The sky was dark blue, the last remains of orange daylight quickly setting behind the tall trees. It was quite warm, without rain or wind. Ideal for hunting, calm and still. Soon small animals will start to crawl out from their dens looking for food, and that was the exact thing the predators were waiting for, including Mikey. He knew he wasn’t as fast or capable as the older Way in matters of stalking and hunting a pray, but he still intended to bring back at least something. Anything. 

But when the moon raised high and the evening slowly became morning, and Mikey was still wandering the rows of trees with empty hands, he started to get nervous. He planned to catch something small, bring it to Gerard to relieve his pain and hunger, and then go out again to try and hunt down something more, bring back again and repeat until the sun goes up. But the odds really weren’t in their favor. When after long minutes and hours he met only a forest rat, which on top of everything managed to outrun him and hid beneath the ground, he really started to doubt that there were any animals at ALL in this region. He hoped he was wrong.

He returned about an hour before dawn. Despite it being warm moths of the year, the vampire was shivering and cold. He spent the last few hours sat under a large tree beside an entrance into a small den. He didn’t know what resided inside, but he could almost feel the beat of a tiny warm body. So he waited, determined to catch it the second it showed it’s little, sniffing head. It was probably his last chance to hunt something down, and he wasn’t planning on letting it slip through his fingers. He couldn’t fail on this one.

Mikey shook his head and slipped through the rusty fence. He made his way between the grave stones, through the slight forest morning mist floating around, circling and dispersing around him. Soon it will settle down and form fresh morning dew, masking his trace a bit. He looked around cautiously, checking that someone or something wasn’t following him, and shortly knocked on the burrow door. He didn’t expect Gerard to open up, it was just so he wouldn’t startle him. He opened the doors with a screech and slipped inside, tightly closing them behind him again. He ducked under some webs and made his way down, carefully footing the steep steps. He scanned the small room with his eyes, adjusting to the pitch black quickly, and sighed quietly when he took in the huddled man in the corner. Gerard was fast asleep, the cloak pulled tightly around him, up to his nose, his body curled up into a tiny ball. Only his porcelain face was visible, partly obscured by his raven dirty hair. He looked to tiny and fragile, vulnerable. He was breathing quietly, but evenly. Mikey knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Gerard. Gerard, wake up, I’m back,” he whispered and shook him oh so gently. He expected the older vampire to jump, shrink back or something like that, but the dark haired man was so weak that he merely sighed and opened his eyes ajar. He didn’t seem alarmed or surprised at all, he probably wouldn’t move much even if it was someone else. 

“Mikey…” he rasped and coughed a little. That was not good. The younger vampire put a hand to his forehead – icy cold and damp – and cursed. 

“Hold on, I brought you something,” he said and sat cross legged next to him. 

He opened his coat and pulled a small dead body from the inside, hidden and kept warm on his chest until now. It was a small owl, with broken neck but otherwise untouched, fresh and soft. He caught it when it tried to steal the critter he was waiting for, dropped from the trees silently just when Mikey made a move to catch his pray. The animal managed to run away, but the surprised owl wasn’t so lucky. Gerard squinted for a few seconds, before his eyes slowly opened wide and he let his lips part a little. Mikey helped him to sit up and lean on the wall, then handed him the dead bird. His wasn’t even holding it completely yet when Gerard surged forward and burrowed his fangs deep into the small feathered body. Mikey pulled his hands back fast, almost getting his fingers bitten as well, and looked as the other vampire quickly drained the offering. Gerard hummed and closed his eyes, the feathers hiding most of his face, but clutched at the bird with both hands, so hard his knuckles went white. It was probably just a few seconds, but it felt like eternity before he finally let go and pulled away. He licked his crimson lips thoroughly, breathing heavily and flexing his jaw a little.

“Thank you,” he breathed and the corners of his lips turned upward. “Thank you, I needed this,” he slowly opened his eyes again. They were still wild and hungry, but the glassy unfocused look was gone, for now at least. He licked every last drop from the bird’s feathers and then laid the soft body aside. He sighed again and let his head fall back against the wall. Mikey thought maybe a little color returned into his face, but couldn’t be sure.

“Got something more there?” Gerard asked and looked at him. Mikey lowered his eyes and shook his head, a little ashamed. He was gone all night and this was the only thing he was able to bring back. The older vampire smiled tired and nodded.

“Thank you still.”

“Do you feel better?” Mikey asked hopefully. Gerard put a hand on his side and hissed. Still hurting and stinging.

“Better – yes. Good – not so much. Not enough for it to heal properly,” he muttered. A tiny animal couldn’t sustain his hunger for long, let alone be enough to kick on the regeneration. But it was a relief, the cold and shivering heaviness he felt was gone for now. 

“I will find some more. I will hunt until you feel good, I will not stop until you are alright,” Mikey declared and took his hand. Gerard smiled slightly. 

“I know, Mikes. But the sun will probably rise soon and you should rest too, you were gone all night,” he said and nodded for him to sit down beside him. Mikey took place and stretched his legs, sitting shoulder to shoulder with his brother. Surprisingly, it wasn’t so cold down here, the stones weren’t exactly warm, but after a while of sitting, they accommodated to his temperature quite well. At least he felt so, but he could be just really tired. 

They talked, talked about things they could do – would do – when they got out of here. Where they should go, how far, how to avoid any suspicion… It was certain the news from the village will spread quickly. They had to careful on normal circumstances, but now, with human nearby looking out for vampires? Who knows, if they were lucky, the people will think they died in the fire. But then again, Robert Bryer had to explain somehow what happened in the house. Mikey hoped he would be too proud and lie about beating them and then making a heroic escape, but those were just theories. They couldn’t know what happened and is still happening, surly not from here. Gerard suggested they could go north, far away to the mountains, then try and find a shelter in some hunter colonies. It was a hard life, the hunters were mainly after furs and other expensive animal parts, but there seemed to be enough pray for them to survive. Also, the weather was harsh up there, so not much sun to worry about. The problem was to get there. It took weeks on the road on horse beck, over a month with a caravan to arrive to foothills. And the colonies were small groups, usually families who lived there for generations. They weren’t much welcoming to outsiders. They couldn’t be sure they would find a refuge there. The good thing was, they had time to ponder over all possibilities. Mikey was restless, so he stayed up with Gerard and they talked for long hours.

“I haven’t even asked where we are actually?” Gerard spoke after few minutes of silence, seemingly out of deep thoughts. He had his head laid on Mikey’s shoulder and was looking into nothing. Mikey tilted his head and thought.

“Well… we are in the middle of the woods. I haven’t seen any roads, nor animal paths actually. And it looks like this cemetery was abandoned long time ago, it’s pretty unkept,” he answered.

“Is here buried someone you heard about? Someone famous?” Gerard asked and lifted his head a little so he could look at Mikey.

“I didn’t read all the names. Besides, some on them are unreadable, covered in moss and the tooth of time and all that, you know.”

“So we don’t have to worry someone will come to visit?” the older Way furrowed his brows a little. Mikey hesitated for exactly two seconds, but then shook his head. There was no chance someone would wander here right when they were hiding here, not when it’s been abandoned for so long. 

“I think we are completely safe. Even if someone came to put, I don’t know, flowers on some grave, no one would notice that these doors are unlocked. Don’t worry,” he said and smiled reassuringly. 

Maybe it was fate, or some pratty bad joke of destiny, but just as he finished the sentence, his ears twitched and he froze. Steps. He heard steps. Both vampires fell into dead silence and listened. For a few seconds there was nothing, but then came the sound of rustling and more steps. Maybe it was finally some larger animal, looking for a nice grassy snack? The rustling moved away slowly, and Mikey almost let go of the breath he was holding. But then they returned. And it sounded like they were walking with purpose. Mikey cursed so much in his head. What have they done to the world that they were being punished so hard? They listened for a few more minutes the soft thuds on the forest floor. It was a human, no doubt about it now. The loud rustle of what sounded like heavy branches had them jumping and holding onto one another. Mikey pulled his legs closer to himself and kept his eyes on the staircase. It looked someone came to visit the graves after all. Whoever it was, he prayed they move along and just leave quickly. 

They listened for long minutes, it felt like eternity and Mikey thought that the beat of his own heart must be loud enough to be heard outside. The noise stopped after some time, and he uneasily took a deep breath instead of the swallow gulps he gasped the whole time. He dared to move a little, leaning forward to better see the stairs. The doors remained closed, to his relief. 

“Well, at least we are completely safe,” Gerard whispered sarcastically, mimicking his own words just a few minutes ago. Mikey frowned at him.

“Are you kidding me? How was I supposed to know some will come, it was totally abandoned,” he hissed back at him.

“I guess totally abandoned isn’t the right-“

“Shhht!” Mikey put a finger to his lips and turned to stare at the entrance again. 

A tiny hissing sound caught his attention. It came from right behind the door. He felt Gerard tightly gripping his sleeve. For a moment there was nothing, not a sound, just their uneven breathing, and then a rattle of heavy metal on metal. Mikey whimpered and his heart dropped. No, no nonononono! Why?! Why was this happening to them?! Gerard tightened his grip, it almost hurt, but Mikey didn’t care. He swallowed a yelp when the doors opened with a laud creak and the stairs were immediately illuminated by warm yellow and orange light. That wasn’t just sun, it was flickering too much – a fire! Oh god, it couldn’t get worse. He scooted them both into the corneriest corner and held his breath, biting his lip to remain silent. He had to do something, he had to save them! The stony walls echoed careful slow steps and the light was coming closer. 

“Mikey,” Gerard whimpered silently. The younger vampire looked him and gulped, his pale face looked even more terrified than he felt himself. Mikey moved in front of him to shield him with his own body. He will now allow anyone to ever hurt him again, even if it meant to tear the intruder apart. The person on the stairs stopped for a moment and Mikey could hear fidgeting. Drawing a weapon maybe?

“If there is anyone down there, please don’t kill me,” a voice called. It was a man’s voice, young and didn’t sound that much threatening. 

It sounded like he didn’t expect to find the vampires, so maybe it wasn’t one of theirs pursuers. Mikey frowned. If it really was an accidental encounter, maybe they could try and- His thoughts were interrupted the man moved again, making his way down into the crypt. Gerard’s breath hitched behind him when a torch appeared. It moved to one side, then to the other, illuminating the room in soft glow, and then a hand, arm and a whole owner of said torch appeared too. It was a small guy, lean but solidly built. He wore a plain shirt, leather trousers and high boots. He’s got coal black hair, short on the sides but longer in the middle and over his forehead a little, and under his tucked up sleeves peaked a bunch of tattoos on his arms and hands. His face could be described simply as beautiful, not too soft but not too sharp either, perfectly shaped jaw and large hazel eyes. Mikey stared at him for a few seconds, stared at him for the whole time it took the man too notice them. He shrieked and jumped back, alarmed. He stared at them clearly in shock.

“Who the fuck… are you?” he choked out.


End file.
